a blog about how culture can affect typography

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marquee

I spent a day this weekend walking around downtown Cleveland and came across the Ohio theatre marquee. It immediately reminded me of the marquee in Chicago. This is a perfect example of how culture affects typography and the choices made to design the sign. The colors in the Chicago sign are bright and vibrant and the embellishments on the sign all capture what the city is about. When walking down the street, it doesn’t look out of place, it just fits with the vibe of the city. When researching the marquee, I found out the Y-shaped figure behind the horizontal word Chicago on the State Street marquee is the city’s municipal badge, which symbolizes the forked Chicago River.

The Ohio sign captures an elegance and industrial feel, again mirroring the city. It’s a perfect fit for the location and again, doesn’t look out of place and fits with the vibe of the city. It has been revitalized several times, been shut down, reopened and survived a fire.

Both theater’s opened in 1921 and have been added to the National Register of Historic Places.